Longitudinal drier eor paper-making machines



J. E. ALEXANDER.

LONGITUDINAL DRIER FOR PAPER MAKING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILEDNov.26,1917.

Patented N 0V. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- IIIIII I lf.

I. E. ALEXANDER. LONGITUDINAI. DRIER FOR PAPER MAKING MACHINES.

A APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26. I9I7.

Patented N 0V. 16, 1920.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

J. E. ALEXANDER.

LONGITUDINAL DRIER FOR PAPER MAKINGl MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 26, I9I7 1,359,141, Patented Nov. 1920.

3 SHEET ET 3.

,TOEN E. ALEX'ANDER, 0F PORT EDWARDS, WISCONSIN'.

LONGITUDINAL DRIER FOR PAPER-MAKING MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 16, 1920.

Application med November 2s, 1917. serial No. 204,086.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN E. ALEXANDER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the village of Port Edwards, in the county of Wood andState of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLongitudinal Driers for aper-Making Machines; and I do hereby declarethat the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to an improved form of a drier unit forpaper-making machines wherein a paper web to be dried is conductedlongitudinally through a casing on. longitudinally7 arranged beltconveyers and between electric heating units. The heating units areadapted to heat air drawn through the casing by means of suction pumps.thereby permitting said heated air to uniformly dry the sage through thedrier.

It is an object of this invention to construct a drier unit for apaper-making machine, said drier unit having the mechanisms thereofarranged longitudinally therein.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an electrically heateddrier unit through which a web to be dried is carried longitudinally ina straight path.

A further object of the invention is the.

construction of a drier unit adapted to permit a web to be conveyedthrough the casing of said drier unit in a straight path and through acurrent of electrically heated air.

It is an important object of this invention to construct a paper-makingmachine drier unit wherein a web is uniformly dried during itslongitudinal passage through the drier unit on endless belts betweenelectric heating elements and through a continuous current of heatedair.

Other and further important objects of this invention will be apparentfrom the disclosures'in the drawings and specification.

The invention (in a preferred form) is illustrated in the drawings andhereinafter more fully described.

On the drawings:

Flgure 1 is a side elevational view, partly paper web in its pas- F 1g.4 is a section taken on line 4.-4, of

Fig. 3, with parts broken away and parts shown in elevation. ,2,

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section taken on line 5 5, of Fig. 3.

ig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail section taken on line 6 6, ofFig. 5, with parts omitted and broken away.

Fig. 7 isa reduced detail view taken on line 7 7, of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detail view taken on line 8 8, of Fig. 4, withpartsomitted.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary section taken on line 9 9, of Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a vertical detail section taken through one of the heatingunits.

F ign-1l is a wiring diagram of one of the heating units.

Fig. 12 discloses a modified form of a wire mesh conveyer having beltsof different wire mesh.

As shown on the drawings:

The reference numeral 1', designates a floor or foundation upon which isrigidly mounted a framework 2, supported by ined within said framework2, isa long comparatively shallow closed box vor casing 4, having aninlet slot 5, in one end wall thereof and an outlet slot 6, in the otherend wall thereof tor permit a web 7, making machine to be fed throughsaid inlet slot 5, and be longitudinally conducted through said casingto be passed out of the casing through the outlet slot 6. The casing 4,is made of any suitable kind of material and is furnished with aninsulating lining 8, to prevent radiation of heat.

he supporting frame2, is provided with a plurality of pairs ofoppositely dlsposed bearings 9, located directly above the supportinglegs 3, the apertures in said bearings registering with suitableapertures 1n the casing 4, to permit the axle ends of. a

from a paperother suitable kind of material. Said belts 11, support andcarry the web 7, in a straight path longitudinally through the casing 4.Secured on one of the outer projecting ends of one of the rollers 10, ineach group of rollers, is a pinion or gear 12, which is in mesh withanother pinion or gear mounted therebelow on a stub shaft or axle 13, onthe outer end of which a worm wheel 14, is secured and meshes with aworm 15,- integral with or secured on the shaft 16, of a driving motor17.

Securely mounted within the casing4, fre a plurality of electric heatingunits or elements which are arranged in pairs between adjacentlydisposed rollers 10, one heating unit of each pair being mounted aboveand the other below the web 7. Each of the heating units comprises apair of oppo-` sitely disposed T-bars 18, the anges of which are rigidlysecured on the inner walls of the casing 4, so that the stems 19thereofare directed inwardly toward one another in a horizontal position.Mounted upon the upper side of each of the stems 19, of the T-ba'rs 18,are a plurality of equidistantly spaced insulating blocks 2 0. Alsorigidly secured upon the under side of each ofthe stems 19, are aplurality of insulating blocks 21, half as'many in number as the numberof blocks 20. Connected back and forth to the blocks 20, mounted onoppositely disposed T-bars 18, is a wire element 22, having terminals 23and 24, as shown in the wir- 1ng diagram of Fig. 11. Similarly connectedtothe blocks 21, mounted on oppositely disposed T-bars 18, is a wireelement 25, having terminals 26 and 27. As clearly shown in the wiringdiagram' the wire element 25, has only half the number of bends, turnsor loops as are provided in the wire element. 22. Each of the wireelements is independent rof one another and have assoelated therewith atwo arm switch 28, which 1n turn is connected across the mainpower leads29 and 30. The switches 28, are so arranged that either one or both ofthe wire elements 22 and 25, of each heating unit may be 'connected incircuit as desired independently of one another, thus providing'anarrangement whereby the heat in the casing 4, may be readily regulatedas desired to provide a graduated temperature within the casing. Theinsulating blocks 2() and 21, may be secured to the stems of the T-barsby means of bolts 31, or other suitable means.

Mounted upon the top of the casing 4, and communicating with theinterior thereof,

are a plurality of hoods 32, to which are.

connected pipes 33, the outer end of each of n which is attached to asuction pump 34,

mounted on theloor 1, at the side of the drier unit and adapted to. drawair and steam from the interior of the casing 4, said steam being formedby the hot air in the drier unit absorbing the moisture from the web 7,during'the drying process of said web in its passage through the casing4, on the endless belts 11.' As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the pipes 33,may have one or more hoods 32, connected therewith, as desired. Thepumps 34, may haveconnected therewith, exhau'st pipes (not shown) forthe purpose of carrying the exhaust air and steam to a suitable placefor discharge.

The operation is as follows:

The web 7, which is originally formed in the pulp mixing parts of thepaper-making machine is conveyed on an endless belt to the drier unit,where the web 7, is permitted to enter the casing 4, through the inletslot The belts 11, which run over the rollers 10. are of course set inmotion by the driving motors 17, through the gear connections. Thevarious wire heating elements 22 and 25, are heated by electricity whenthe switches 28, are closed to permit the electric current to run fromthe main leads 29 and 30, through said wire heating elements. which soonbecome heated and radiate their heat to heat the air within the `casing4. The various heating elements are independent of one another and maythus be connected as required to afford a ready means for regulating thedistribution of heat within said casing.

The" suction pumps 34, Lmay be operated by any suitable source of power,and when in operation tend to draw the heated air out of the casing 4,through the hoods 32 and the pipes 33, to be exhausted into theatmosphere or if desired into any suitable type of device adapted toutilize the exhaust heat 7, enters the casing 4, through the slot 5, and

is conveyed upon the continuous wire mesh belts 11, disposedlongitudinally with res ect to one another within said casing.

he web'7, follows a straight path longitudinally through the casing 4,and passes out of the casing through the outlet slot 6, on to thecalendar rolls of the paper-making machine. The web 7, in its passagethrough the casing 4, is conducted between the upper and lower electricheating elements which are arranged -in pairs within said casing. Theair within the casing which is heated by the electric heating elementstends to absorb the moisture Jfrom the moving web 7 thus drying said weband forming a steam which is drawn from the casing through the hoods 32and pipes 3 3, by the suction pumps 34, thereby permitting a freshsupply of air to enter the casing 4. By such an operation a continuouscurrentof heated air moves through the casing 4, around the web 7, andrapidly dries said web uniformly throughout as the same progressesthrough the casing carried by the belts The beltsll, of course, may bemade of felt or any other suitable material and when made of wire,

.heaters arranged longitudinally said belts as shown in the modifiedform of belt conveyer of F ig. l2 may ifdesired be of different wiremeshstarting with a belt lla of fine wire mesh at the entrance end of thecasing, with each succeeding belt 1lb, llc and so forth being of acoarser mesh toward the exit end of the casing, thus permitting theheated air to contact both surfaces of the web to dry the same uniformlyand rapidly. Y

It willv of course bev understood that numerous details of constructionmay be varied.

through a wide range without vdeparting from the principles of thisinvention, and I therefore do not purpose limiting the patent grantedotherwise than necessitated by the prior art.

' I claim as my invention:

1. A drier embracing an insulated casing adapted to permita wet materialto be drawn therethrough, electric heating units alined longitudinallywithin the casing above and below the material to dry the same, meansfor regulating said heaters independently of each other, and meansconnected with the casingto drive the hot air and steam therefrom.

2. A driercomprising an insulated casing, a plurality ,of belts arrangedlinearly one after the other within the casing for conveying a materialthrough said casing, and means Within the casing -for drying thematerial as it is conveyed through the drier.

3. A drier comprising a casing, electric therein, a switch meansconnected therewith for lregulating the same independently of each otherfor obtaining graduated temperatures in the V casing,

belts disposed longitudinally/ within said casing for carrying a webbetween said electric heaters` to dry the web in its passage through thedrier, and'means connected with the casing'for drawing off the hot air.and

Steam.

4. A drier embracing a casing, electric `pumps connected therewith,heating means longitudinally arranged in said casing, beltslongitudinally disposed within said casing adapted to carry a web to bedried longitudinally through said casing between said heating means,said heating means heating the air within said casing to absorb themoisture="from said Aweb in its passage through the casing, said suctionpumps adapted to draw the vapor-laden` heated air from said casingthrough said hoods to permit a uniform drying of said web.

(i. In a device of the class'described, a casing, a plurality of rollerstransversely disposed therein, arranged in groups, an endless belttrained around each group of rollers, Imeans connected with certain ofsaid rollers for rotating'- said belts to carry a web longitudinallythroughl said casing in a straight path, heaters arranged longitudinallyin said casing for heating the air therein to absorb the moisture fromsaid web to -dry said web, and means for drawing said vapor-laden airfrom said casing thereby causing a ymovement of the heated air throughsaid casing around Asaid web.

- In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name in thevpresence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN E. ALEXANDER.

Witnesses:

EARL M. HARDINE, CHARLES W. HILLS, Jr.

